A HEALTH watchdog in Coventry has warned that plans to keep maternity and paediatric services in Nuneaton have not been properly scrutinised.

Campaigners have convinced the NHS not to send all pregnant women and sick children to Coventry.

Instead the two units will remain at the George Eliot Hospital in Nuneaton under new management.

However, the decision not to properly consult patients on the other options has concerned the health scrutiny board at Coventry City Council.

Committee chairman Coun David Welsh said doubts remained over the long term sustainability of the proposal the NHS had chosen.

“The review was prompted by significant concerns regarding the safety of the paediatric and maternity services delivered from George Eliot Hospital and this option was added late into the process,” he said.

The board was keen to discuss the care a number of Coventry patients received at the hospital, he said.

The Arden Cluster, which leads the local NHS, has been reviewing the region’s network of maternity and children’s units for several years to ensure the safety of future patients.

The most concern centred around services at George Eliot Hospital.

Five proposals were put forward to send more patients to Coventry. A sixth option was later added by bosses at George Eliot to save services.

They suggested handing control of the units to Warwick Hospital, so only the most seriously ill children need be redirected to Coventry.

The Royal College of Paediatrics was asked to review this plan.

Coun Welsh warned its report gave only “lukewarm support” and raised issues that needed scrunity. He urged the NHS to make those findings available to the public.

The decision to keep services in Nuneaton was welcomed by many in north Warwickshire, including campaigner Coun Barry Longden plus MPs Marcus Jones and Dan Byles.

It is a signficant victory for them, both for saving local units and for disrupting the much-maligned flow of services away from George Eliot to University Hospital in Walsgrave.

Their concerns focused largely on how far pregnant women and children had to travel for treatment.

Kevin McGee, chief executive of George Eliot Hospital, said the plan would also create a strong paediatric network across Coventry and Warwickshire for the first time.

He said Warwick Hospital would appoint extra paediatricians to work at George Eliot Hospital, who would be able to specialise in more detail.

An arrangement allowing them to work shifts at University Hospital to see more rare cases and maintain their skills will continue, he said.

Warwickshire’s health scrutiny board has said it is happy for the changes to proceed without any public consultation to save money. The plan will be presented next month.